


Sometimes Even Superheroes Screw Up (WAY up)

by Peggystormborn



Series: Every Time...A Karamel Anthology [23]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, KaraMel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 21:43:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18881836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggystormborn/pseuds/Peggystormborn
Summary: Kara and Mon-El get caught in a compromising position, and have to explain their relationship to the world--AND figure out how their ever-growing family will fit into the world at large.





	Sometimes Even Superheroes Screw Up (WAY up)

**Author's Note:**

> So this takes place about 30 years in future. The children have all grown up.
> 
> I'm not making up a bunch of near-future silliness, everyone still has smartphones and social media and newspapers still exist.
> 
> If you haven't read my other stories:
> 
> Kara and Mon-El spent 10 years in the future with Winn, and they had four children there.
> 
> To start healthy, Mon-El requires monthly injections of a serum made from Kara's blood.
> 
> Alex adopted an alien-human hybrid child. 
> 
> Superman and Lois have a child, but needed fertility help from Eliza to get pregnant.
> 
> Lena and James adopted Lex's son A.J., who became Karamel's eldest daughter's boyfriend.
> 
> Winn married Eve and had two daughters.
> 
> Mon-El has a twin brother.

Kara wakes to the sound of her alarm. Not the regular alarm, though, the signal watch that a few select people use for emergencies.

 

She sits up in bed at super speed, then quickly checks her phone on the nightstand. Twelve missed calls. _Must have it on silent,_ she thinks. _Oops_. She looks at the clock. 3:22 am.

 

"That can't be good…" she says aloud, as her husband rolls over, bleary-eyed, and groggily drags himself into a sitting position next to her.

 

"What's wrong?" Mon-El asks.

 

"I'm not sure," Kara replies. "James has been calling."

 

She dials him back, and has to pull the phone away from her ear at his rather loud greeting.

 

"KARA! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

 

"Sleeping. I'm sorry, my phone was off. What's happened?"

 

"...You're on the front page. Both of you. There was nothing I could...I couldn't stop it. And it wouldn't matter anyway, it's all over the internet. It's…oh, Christ." The usually calm, collected James Olsen rarely turns into a motormouth, so she knows whatever has happened is bad.

 

"James...slow down. What are you talking about? Is someone hurt?"

 

"What? No, just…check social media. You're trending."

 

Confused, Kara pulls up the browser on her phone and logs onto her account. Or, rather, the account of Kara Matthews, the identity she assumed a decade and change ago when she'd finally had to give up being Kara Danvers for good, somewhere in her mid forties. A few too many remarks about how impossibly young she looked for a middle aged woman finally convinced her. It had been difficult, packing up the life they'd built, moving on to a new job in a new city--Coast City, specifically. But the kids had all gone off to college, and into the real world, and become heroes in their own right. It was just the two of them again. Empty nesters who just happened to look about the same age as their adult sons and daughters.

 

It was time. Alex had left the DEO anyway, having been named to a top level liaison position at the Defense Department. And with the help of Earth's four newest superheroes, things had been safer for some time. Mostly.

 

Though this particular evening was a rare exception. They'd been up against some heavily armed bank robbers with military-grade armor piercing bullets. Kara had gone in blind, Mon-El following closely behind, neither realizing the perps had canisters of lead-infused tear gas.

 

When the gas hit them, Kara chuckled at first. Tear gas? Really? Who did they think they were dealing with, here?

 

Until Mon-El began to wheeze. He'd been cured, twice over, of his lead allergy--with a monthly assist in the form of a serum made from his wife's blood--but as they'd discovered over the years, quantity makes a difference. Exposure to a large amount of Kryptonite feels much different than a small chunk of it. Similarly, the trace amounts of lead still in Earth's air didn't impact Mon-El, but a massive dose in an enclosed space? Turns out that's a big problem.

 

He'd fallen on the floor, practically coughing his lungs out, until his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell unconscious.

 

Panicking, Kara sped him outside and quickly grabbed the emergency booster dose of the serum he always kept in his boot for exactly this type of eventuality. Still, even after piercing his normally impenetrable skin with the Nth metal needle and injecting the medicine, Kara was forced to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation.  She'd put her lips against his, opening his airways with her powerful breath, until he finally sputtered and awoke.

 

Relieved beyond measure, she'd held him in her arms until his breathing normalized.

 

"I'm so sorry. I didn't even look to make sure…I didn't see the canister…I should have…" she'd sobbed.

 

"Shhh…I'm okay," her husband had reassured her, touched as always by her outpouring of love and devotion.

 

The criminals had fled the scene, but were picked up by Superman, who thankfully had been just a short flight away.

 

They hadn't talked after the incident, but as soon as they'd left the bank, Kara had tugged him into her arms and flown them both up into the clouds, throwing her strong arms around him and kissing him passionately.

 

That was several hours ago. Exhausted, they'd eventually made their way home, crawled under the covers, and gone straight to sleep.

 

Until now, as she nervously accesses the internet on her phone, scared to death over whatever it is that has James in panic mode.

 

There it is, in living color, on the front page of the National City Tribune:

 

"SUPERGIRL AND VALOR CAUGHT IN THE ACT"

 

Heart racing, she scans down to the caption below, which reads "A local small-craft pilot captured video of Supergirl and her long-time partner in heroism, Valor, engaged in an apparent sex act high above National City. The video appears to confirm suspicions of a romantic relationship between the two heroes, which both have long denied."

 

"Oh...OH RAO! MON-EL!" Fully freaking out now, she hands her husband the phone.

 

He scans the article for a moment, clicks the link to see some of the screenshots that have now clearly circulated all around the globe, and sighs. "Well, at least they got my good side."

 

"Mon-El! There's a video of your ASS on the internet!"

 

"...Are you saying that's not my good side?" he deadpans.

 

"MON-EL!"

 

"Babe, there's nothing we can do about it. And frankly, honey, not to be weird but plenty of people saw my ass on Daxam."

 

"Not. Helping." She looks at the image again. "Oh, God, what is that weird face I'm making? Is that really my sex face? Ughhhh…" she groans.

 

"Kara, you're not making a weird face. All your sex faces are un-weird, trust me." He looks closer at the screen. "Love, look, it's like, the blurriest video I've ever seen. You can't even really tell that's us."

 

"Except from the fact that we're clearly floating at around six thousand feet!"

 

"That's...true. But hey, at least your... _stuff_ isn't hanging out. Perks of wearing a skirt, you can just take off those boy shorts you wear underneath. I have to pull the whole damn thing down to my boots, _after_ I take off the stupid belt that doesn't do anything. Actually, maybe we should see if Winn can think of some way to…"

 

"...You want Winn to alter your supersuit to make it easier for you to have CLOUD SEX?!"

 

"...Well...and _pee_ …"

 

"Mon-El, can you please be serious? What the _hell_ are we gonna do?!"

 

"...Um, nothing? Babe, it's done. Let's just...try and go back to sleep."

 

"How can you sleep knowing there's video of us... _fornicating_ on the internet!"

 

"We don't fornicate. We're married. We _copulate._ "

 

"Well, whatever -ate we're doing, we're gonna have to explain ourselves to the world now. Not to mention...oh, Rao, the kids! What are the kids gonna say? And our grandchildren!"

 

"The grandkids are all too young to understand this right now. And the kids...I mean, I'm pretty sure they're all aware their parents do the nasty on occasion."

 

"But…everyone on Earth is gonna know they're _ours_!"

 

"Everyone on Earth has known that since Allie got her first glyph-embellished suit when she was fifteen. It's not like us repeatedly saying 'no comment' to your media brethren has fooled anyone."

 

"But now it's...official."

 

"Yes, congratulations, my dear, we're officially married. For the past _38 years._ "

 

Kara drops her face into her hands. "Oh, God...we're gonna have to have a family meeting. Tomorrow."

 

"Kara, honey, don't you think maybe you're overreacting just a little?"

 

She pins him with a glare, and he clams up.

 

"TOMORROW," she avers, flopping back down on the bed. Mon-El attempts to spoon his wife, lovingly stroking her arm in the hopes of comforting her. But he knows it's an exercise in futility. Neither of them are getting back to sleep tonight.

 

********

 

"I can't believe you two. You know you're both technically close to a century old, right? Dad's well over! And you're like two...horny teenagers!" Their eldest daughter Allie paces back and forth in their grandparents' house in Midvale, where the whole family is gathered. Eliza and Jeremiah, now long since retired and thankfully still pretty spry for their age, happily dote on their five great grandchildren who are currently running around in the backyard. Eliza crosses her fingers they don't finally pull down the old tire swing, since the rope connecting it to the thickest bough of their large oak tree has seen better days.

 

Xander--whose heavily pregnant Kryptonian wife, Sela Em-Vex, sits awkwardly on the living room recliner--emerges from the kitchen with lemonade and a plate of cookies, rolling his eyes at his older sister.

 

Zora--whose wife Madeline is still at their workplace, the Keystone City Regional Office of the DEO--stands by the back door watching her two young sons, Evan and Darren, play tag with their cousins, Lizzie, Max, and baby Carmen. The youngest member of the family (for the next month or so, anyway) toddles around happily, chasing the older children who all thankfully lack super speed. So far, at least.

 

"It's not that big a deal, guys," Xander attempts to derail his sister's train of huffiness. "I mean yeah, squick city on our parents being in the al fresco Mile High Club, but as far as the rest goes, the whole world has been under the assumption we're one big hero family for a long time."

 

"Yes, _thank_ you, son. That's why you're my favorite."

 

Kara glares icily at her husband, and he can't help but chuckle. "I'm _kidding,_  you know I'm kidding, they're…"

 

"Yeah, yeah, we know, we're _all_ your favorite." Zora says gruffly. "Can we get back on topic? Grossness of this situation aside, we need to discuss whether it's time to just...come out."

 

"...What?!" Alex says, newly arrived to the conversation through the front door. The only arrival without powers, she'd had to be flown in by the youngest Danvers, John, who also happens to be the only one of them that's still single. And luckily, he also happens to work in Washington, DC, only a few blocks from Alex's office, where he runs a program at the Peace Corps that places metahumans and aliens in developing nations to help with community enrichment projects.

 

Not as young as she used to be, Alex cracks her shoulder as she takes off her coat and hands it to her nephew to hang in the hall closet. "Come _out?_ " she asks. "Like, as supers?"

 

"Yes. That's _exactly_ what I mean," Zora nods.

 

"What, _all_ of us?" Allie balks. "What about the kids?"

 

"I was thinking...start with Mom and Dad. They're not legally Danverses any more. They've both gone by Matthews for years. Call it a test run. I mean, Mom, you know for _sure_ from living in the future that at some point your identity gets uncovered, right?"

 

"Whoa, whoa...we don't use future knowledge to make decisions, honey. The timeline may have changed," her father cautions.

 

"I'm just saying there's probably some amount of inevitability here. It's a matter of _when,_  not _if._  And maybe it's better for everyone if we can...have some control over when and how that happens."

 

The room falls silent as they all consider this.

 

"She's not wrong," John says, at length. "Someday someone will figure it out. One of us will slip up, get caught. Or just have someone, the _wrong_ someone, see past the glasses. Which every single _one_ of us wears. I mean…at some point people start wondering how it is that none of us have heard of contact lenses...you know?" he shrugs.

 

Allie sighs. "WelI…I'm not ready. I don't want reporters following me when I walk my kids to school. Hanging out in front of my office. Surveilling me and speculating on my every move. And what about my work? My lab? My _marriage?_ "

 

This was a good point. Allie, out of all of them, would undoubtedly be subject to the most scrutiny. After all, what better tabloid fodder could there be than a Super married to a Luthor?

 

Allie and her high school boyfriend, A.J. (who happened to be the son of infamous Lex Luthor, though he'd been adopted at the age of 16 by James and Lena when his father went to prison) had parted ways when he went off to Oxford for college. Despite the fact that Allie could fly at supersonic speeds, they both knew ultimately it just wouldn't work. But they remained friends, saw each other on holidays, tried to date other people over the years, through undergrad and then graduate school, and into their respective scientific careers.

 

Then came the day when Allie needed help fighting a sentient nanobot cloud that had been loosed on Star City. Requiring some expert assistance from someone well-versed in microscopic technology, she'd swallowed her pride and called up her high school sweetheart for help.

 

They solved the case, of course, which led to a celebratory kiss, which led to dinner, which led to...other things. And eventually to a wedding, three kids (with some assistance from human-alien fertility expert Grandma Eliza, who'd also assisted cousin Clark and Lois with conceiving their son Jonathan) and founding a state-of-the-art research facility in Philadelphia, the Schott Center for Innovation, where a now-Dr. Danvers studies alien-human xenobiology while her husband heads Research and Development. The facility's namesake, though in his seventies now, pops in now and then to tinker and poke at their work, and drop the occasional nugget of wisdom upon them.

 

They have a good life. A _great_ one, in fact. One Allie clearly is not keen to cross over with her life as a hero.

 

"Look, I get what you're saying, Zor. I do. But…if Mom and Dad come out as Matthewses, it's only a matter of time before some reporter traces them back to being Danverses, which leads them back to all of US. And I'm _not_ okay with that. It puts the kids at risk, it puts us under the microscope, it makes our lives a _mess_. Not to mention Mom's career."

 

"Yeah...if I'm being honest I'm not super keen on the whole world knowing I'm a reporter," Kara admits. "I know I crossed a few ethical lines back in the day."

 

"More than a few, Mom, if we're being _really_ honest," Allie chides.

 

"Hey, I stopped doing that a long time ago. And now I mostly do editorials anyway."

 

"Well...what if you don't give away your human identity? But just...tell everyone that yes, we're a family...and our private lives are no one else's business?" Xander asks.

 

"Exactly," Alex agrees. "No one has the right to our family's story."

 

"But...aren't you all...tired?" Zora argues. "Of living like this? Of lying all the time, forcing _other_ people to lie _for_ us? Of wondering when the other shoe is gonna drop? It's exhausting."

 

"Not as exhausting as trying to live our lives under constant examination would be," Allie says. "I don't want my children growing up like that. All the... _judgment._  They deserve to live normal lives. Or as normal as possible, anyway. Isn't that why you guys brought all of us back from the future? So we would _have_ that freedom?"

 

Kara sighs. "Yes, that was a big part of it. And to keep all of you safe. Even with all the progress toward peace we made over the years, I always feared our work might put you at risk. We had enemies then, just as we do now, but then...living openly, I was always so worried…" she shakes her head sadly.

 

"See? It's out of the question." Allie nods to punctuate her assertion, as though the matter is entirely settled.

 

Xander isn't convinced. "I dunno. Zor has a point, Al. Look how big this family is. There's…" he counts on his fingers, " _f_ _ifteen_ of us under this roof right now...or, well, including the backyard. And we're missing a couple of spouses. Plus...my little chicklet on the way." He beams at his wife, who smiles and rubs her belly. "The bigger this family gets, the greater the odds of one of us getting caught. Hopefully _without_ anyone else's bare _ass_ going viral." Kara groans at his insinuation while Mon-El shoots his best approximation of stink-eye at his eldest son.

 

"Yeah, well, easy for _you_ to say. You spend half your life on Argo anyway. Some of us don't _have_ that luxury," Allie counters. Xander rolls his eyes, giving up the argument. Allie is her mother's child more than any of them, and her stubbornness is the stuff of legends.

 

"Well...you still have to answer for the...you know, the sky-high sexcapade," Xander reminds them, as Kara covers her face and her husband snickers, earning himself an elbow to the ribs.

 

"Aw, Xan, come on, gross. Can you just…" Zora trails off with a shudder.

 

"Yeah…about that. I already asked Ms. Grant to come out of retirement to interview you," John says.

 

"You did what?!" Kara demands.

 

"Mom, she's the perfect person to do it. She knows who you are, so she won't ask you gotcha questions or try and trick you into revealing anything. She cares about you, and she'll be kind. Plus she's well-respected, and known for having the last word on things. I suspect once she has the exclusive, the other outlets will stop haranguing you."

 

Kara and Mon-El nod, mulling this. "It's not...the _worst_ idea…" Kara concedes.

 

"She's gonna ogle me even more than usual, isn't she?" Mon-El poses, though it's a statement rather than a question.

 

Kara sighs, relenting. "Okay. When do we meet with her?"

 

"She's already waiting for you at Catco."

 

********

 

The two of them stand there in James' office, in front of the large desk currently occupied by Catherine Grant, looking immaculate as always in defiance of her advanced age, as though father time is just one of the many people she holds under her thumb. The media empire's founder stares them down, making them feel like they've been called into the principal's office. James, for his part, watches through the glass. He's nearing retirement age himself, with hair that would be grey if he ever actually let it grow. Standing next to him, for moral support, is Winn. He finds it odd being back here, in this place where it all started. Next to James, who once upon a time was somewhat older than him, but is now a comparable age thanks to Winn's decade spent in the 31st century with his alien friends, mopping up baddies and establishing intergalactic peace.

 

It's oddly comforting, too. Seeing Kara standing in the same space where she used to rush around (at human speed) dealing with dry cleaning or fetching coffee.

 

He looks at James, the two of them clearly thinking the same thing: PLEASE let this go well.

 

They can hear the tick of the antique wall clock, a gift from George Lucas before his untimely passing. Ironic, since Ms. Grant has _still_ never seen Star Wars.

 

"Let me be clear, you two," the former mentor begins, breaking the silence. "I discovered your identities in my personal capacity. And as I've always said I will keep them off the record. So for the purposes of this interview, we'll start with the premise that I know nothing about your lives that isn't public information. But once we begin here, I am a journalist. And for the duration of this interview, I will treat you as such. Understood?"

 

They both nod, a little nervously, and sit in chairs opposite the large desk.

 

"All right, let's begin. Now, you have until yesterday maintained that your relationship is strictly professional. Is that correct?"

 

"Yes, we have always preferred to keep our private lives...uh... private," Kara says.

 

"So, you misled the public."

 

"We have just as much right to privacy as anyone else. We keep our identities and our home lives secret to protect the people we love."

 

"Then…you share a home."

 

They look at each other sheepishly. "Uh, yes. We do," Mon-El says.

 

"So you confirm you are in a romantic relationship?"

 

"Yes, we're married. For several decades now," the Daxamite proudly says, smiling at his wife.

 

Cat doesn't miss a beat. "About twenty years ago, a teenage hero wearing a nearly identical supersuit suddenly appeared in National City and joined you in your heroic efforts. She was followed by three more individuals with powers, all of whom wear your glyph. Can you explain your relationship to them?"

 

"They are...our children," Kara explains, gulping nervously.

 

"Your...biological children? Both of you?"

 

"...Yes. I'm their biological mother and Valor is their biological father."

 

"Did you give birth to them, Supergirl?"

 

"The circumstances of my children's birth are personal, and I won't be commenting on them," Kara says with a decisive nod of the head. Mon-El smiles encouragingly.

 

Taking a breath, Ms. Grant continues. "Based on the year of your debut as Supergirl and the fact that these individuals appear to have all begun their superhero careers during their teen years, is it fair to assume you spent much of your tenure as Supergirl and Valor while parenting young children?"

 

Kara chews her lip while glancing over at her husband, unsure where this line of questions is heading. "Well...yes."

 

"How were you able to manage raising four children while serving the greater good as heroes?"

 

"It...wasn't easy. We're lucky to have had a lot of help."

 

"From whom?"

 

"Uh...friends...family." Mon-El checks with Kara as he answers, nervously making sure he's not giving away too much. She nods with reassurance.

 

"You have family other than your children?"

 

"Uh...yes," Kara hesitates a little, unsure how much to divulge. "We've been very lucky to have found family here on Earth."

 

"And with each other," Mon-El grasps his wife's hand.

 

"What was it that drew you together?" Cat tilts her head, looking genuinely curious for the first time since they all sat down.

 

Kara smiles at the love of her life. "Well…we didn't exactly get along when we first met. I was from Krypton, he was from Daxam. Our peoples had a long history of conflict. But eventually, we got to know one another, and we fell in love. And we've had some difficult times along the way, but...the life we have, the family we have, it's…it's been worth it."

 

"Yes, but…why was it you ended up with each other, instead of a human partner?"

 

They pause and look at each other, wondering at the question. Mon-El tests the waters. "Uh...well, I mean, if you're looking for a list of reasons why I love my wife, we could be here all day, but...certainly, finding someone who understood my culture, who knew what it was like to be a refugee from a lost world, made me feel a lot less alone here." Kara, a little choked up, mouths "Me, too."

 

"...And conveniently you were able to have biological offspring together."

 

Taken aback, Kara and Mon-El look at each other quizzically. "Um...we were, yes," Kara says.

 

"So...being aliens, is it true, as some have speculated, that you are only genetically compatible with those from your planetary system of origin?"

 

"Ms. Grant, I'm not sure what you're getting at…"

 

"Your children are not the only heroes with apparent Kryptonian powers that have hit the scene in the past few years. Another young man was introduced in Metropolis some time ago. He goes by the name of Superboy and bears a striking resemblance to your cousin, and works closely with the Man of Steel as well."

 

"...We really can't comment on…"

 

"Since you've confirmed the existence of your own children, I'm simply wondering whether Superman and Superboy are father and son, and if so, whether Superboy's mother is human. Since he's never been linked romantically to an alien partner."

 

"We DEFINITELY can't comment on that. They have the right to tell their own story...sto _ries_! Plural! Because they...each have one…" Mon-El trails off anxiously.

 

"Yes, please, let's stick to the two of _us,_ " Kara implores. "Superman's life is not relevant to this discussion."

 

She sees her former mentor's jaw tick slightly. "Fine. However, the question of whether Kryptonians and/or Daxamites, as phenomenally superpowered individuals, are able to breed with human beings is one that's certainly relevant to our readers."

 

"Breed?! I'm sorry, BREED?! Ms. Grant, we are not... _SHOW_ ponies. We are _people._  And I would think that _you…_ "

 

"...YES. You are people. People who have done tremendous service to the population of Earth. But your family is both an asset to this planet AND a potential liability."

 

"Liability?" Mon-El asks.

 

"What if, for example, one of your descendants, instead of becoming another Superman or Supergirl, becomes another Zod?"

 

"There's no reason to think that would happen!" Kara blusts. "We've taught our children right from wrong, how to serve the greater good, and we are _incredibly_ proud of them!"

 

"I'm sure you are. And I'm sure they are all good people. What I'm wondering about is the _next_ generation."

 

"You leave my grandchildren OUT of this!"

 

From outside the glass doors, Kara hears Winn gasp, and James whisper "Oh, shit…"

 

She looks at Mon-El, both their mouths hanging open. In unison, they turn toward their interviewer.

 

She clicks her pen and a wry smile spreads across her face. "So...you acknowledge that you already have grandchildren. Let's talk about that."

 

They suffer through another half hour of biting questions, deflecting as much as they can, before Ms. Grant, finally satisfied, turns off her recorder.

 

"What the HELL was that?" Kara groans.

 

" _That_ was half me doing my _job…_ " Cat calmly replies.

 

"You're _retired_."

 

Cat glares at her former protégé. "...And half tough love."

 

"Tough _love_? Seriously?"

 

"Yes. Now look, I love you and your family very much. And you have just as much right as anyone to your personal life. But you have had _decades_ now to contemplate the repercussions of your family planning decisions on the world. And yet you appear have given this no thought whatsoever."

 

"I don't understand…"

 

"In our very first interview all those years ago, I asked you if you had plans to start a family. You found the question sexist, but I didn't ask because you were a woman. I asked you because before I knew you were related to Superman, I wondered if a female and a male Kryptonian on Earth might create an Adam-and-Eve type situation."

 

"Um...eew…"

 

"Listen to me, Super-duo. You are the progenitors of a _race_ of people with incredible powers. Powers no other family on Earth possesses. And your family now includes not just Kryptonians and Daxamites, but also members that are half- _humans_ with powers. Right now there are six of you, plus Superman and his son. In ten to twenty years when your grandchildren follow in your footsteps, there will be over a dozen. And in a another two or three generations there could be _hundreds_ of you. Then thousands. An indeterminate number of individuals walking the Earth who may be able to do most if not all the things you do. People have the right to be _concerned_ about these things, Kyra."

 

Kara crosses her arms and shifts her feet. "What exactly are you suggesting? That it was _irresponsible_ of us to start a family? Our children have saved countless lives! The world is a better place because of them!"

 

"Of course it is, Kyra. But _you two_ need to give some serious thought to how your ever-growing family is going to integrate into society in the coming decades. Luckily, you've hardly aged, for which, might I add, I more-than-slightly hate you. So I expect you'll be around for long enough to contend with the consequences of all this. But take my advice. Start. Dealing with it. Now."

 

"Ms. Grant, I…"

 

"And tell Clark and Lois they're not exempt from all this, either."

 

"Whoa! How did you know about…?"

 

Cat Grant rolls her eyes dramatically, grabs her handbag, and heads for the door. "Get your House of El in _order._  Oh, and…glad to hear you're keeping your marriage exciting, but...next time consider, perhaps, a _bedroom_ for your activities."

 

She breezes past Winn and James, who part like the Red Sea to make way for her.

 

The elevator doors close behind her, leaving two humans and two aliens heaving a collective sigh.

  


********

 

"How many years, you think, since we've all been here?" Winn wonders aloud, as the four of them nurse beers at their old haunt: the alien bar that still, to this day, remains inexplicably nameless.

 

"I dunno. Maybe twenty?" Mon-El posits. "Before we left Midvale, for sure."

 

Kara waves to the bartender for another round, thankful that this is the one place she can actually find something to imbibe that takes the edge off. She doesn't normally drink during the day, but she figures now's the time to make an exception. Anything big happens, the kids can deal with it.

 

You know, before they find out she outed them as parents themselves, which will inevitably invite even _more_ questions upon their family.

 

"We were supposed to be nipping this thing in the bud…" she groans, to no one in particular.

 

"It's okay, love…" her husband consoles.

 

"No, it's not. You know what? Zora and Xander are right. Our family's secrets aren't going to stay secret forever, no matter what we do. Hell, I'm the one that _invented_ having a secret identity…"

 

"...After Clark…" James corrects.

 

Kara rolls her eyes. "...Fine, after Clark. But the point is, forty some-odd years of doing this and here I am spilling the damn beans! It's a miracle none of our kids outed us accidentally when they were little. Rao knows we had some close calls with their powers. And now…there's just too many of us. I don't know what to do."

 

"Well, look. Cat was right, we've got some time to figure everything out. Since we're aging so slowly,"

 

" _Do_ we though? I mean, look, we can try and be more careful in the future, but I have a feeling we're just getting to that point where...something's gotta give."

 

They sit in silence for a while, punctuated only by the occasional sip of beer.

 

"You know, I used to envy you guys," Winn sighs. "But...not any more."

 

"Envy us?" Mon-El says. "For what?"

 

“For being old as balls and still looking exactly zero days over 35, mostly," Winn chuckles. "But...you guys are gonna have a tough road. I mean, James and I are both heading into our golden years, retirement, a well-earned rest where we get to fuss over our grandchildren and play shuffleboard or whatever. But you guys...you're just gonna...keep _going_ …" he shakes his head mournfully.

 

Kara and Mon-El look at each other uncomfortably, until it hits Kara. "Wait...grandchildren?" she wonders. "Your daughters don't have any…"

 

"Oh, yeah, I was gonna tell you, Monica's pregnant! With twins! Boy and a girl, just like you guys had.”

 

“Winn! That's amazing, congrats man!" Mon-El gushes as he, Kara and James take turns hugging their friend.

 

"Yeah, and uh, I think the wife and I are gonna be moving to Gotham to be closer to them. So James, I might not see you as much. But on the upside we'll be pretty close to Philly, so we can come see you all when you visit A.J. and Allie and their little brood."

 

"Yeah, that'll be nice," James says. "Guess I'll be the only one left in National City then."

 

"I guess so," Kara realizes, with sadness. "Have you thought about...moving back to Metropolis? I hate to think of you all by yourself here."

 

James shrugs. "It's hard...to let go of the apartment, all the...memories...of her."

 

No one had to ask who he meant. They all missed Lena. She'd passed away three years before, of pancreatic cancer. A.J. had taken it hard--losing the only real mother he'd ever had--and he'd been making an effort to spend time with James, who'd become his father in every way that mattered. But it was difficult. Even having a wife who could fly them to the West Coast at a moment's notice, they were just so busy with work, the kids, and their shared goal of keeping the world safe.

 

Kara slumps a like in her chair, head spinning a little as her second drink kicks in. "Sometimes…sometimes I really wish I could keep all of you young, like us."

 

"See, _that's_ what I mean, though," Winn gestures with one hand and knocks the bottle off the table, which Mon-El thankfully catches with super speed. "I used to wish that, too. But now that I'm getting older…I've had a beautiful life. My wife, my daughters, my work…I've done everything I wanted to do. And when my time comes, I know I'll be ready, and I'll have no regrets about any of it. And don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm looking forward to the end my life or anything. And I like to think I still have quite a few years left. But...you guys, having to keep fighting the good fight long after all of us are gone…I mean thank God you have each other, and Clark and J'onn and your family. But like I said, I…really don't envy you."

 

Kara and Mon-El look at each other darkly, knowing he's right. It's always been a particularly uncomfortable room-elephant they all like to ignore. The fact that every human they've befriended since they both arrived on Earth will age and die without them. She's long worried about Clark for this reason, since Lois was now nearing seventy, while Clark barely looked middle aged. _At least he has Jonathan,_  Kara thinks, smiling at the mental image of Superman and his super son. _And he has us. Always._

 

"I can't imagine how J'onn does it," James nods along. "I mean, he's already hundreds of years old. And you guys spent time with him while you were living in the 31st century, right?"

 

Kara and Mon-El nod sadly and look at each other. He reaches his hand under the table to clasp hers.

 

"He never talked about the past. The version of him we knew in the future, I mean," Kara says. "But I imagine he must have had some other found families, other people he cared about over the years. Whoever they were...I guess he lost them, too."

 

"Except for you guys," James notes. "And now your family…your descendants, like Ms. Grant said. I suspect he'll stick close to the Danvers clan. That's something, at least."

 

"Yeah...I suppose it is. And it's a gift, in a way. Knowing we'll all be there for him, and him for us. And in a thousand years, he'll have some time with me and Mon-El and Winn. _Past_ us, I mean. In the future. Which will never not sound strange, I know…"

 

"No, I got it. He's got something to look forward to. Knowing you guys and the kids will be showing up eventually," James says.

 

"I guess...he must have just come to terms with everything, over time. With finding people, loving them, even though it won't last forever," Kara says.

 

"So…I suppose we'll do what he does. Cherish each other for as long as we can," Mon-El muses.

 

"To cherishing each other," James toasts, raising his glass.

 

"And to Adam and Eve here," Winn adds. They all look at him curiously, brows crinkling.

 

"What?" Winn queries. "You went forth and multiplied. And the world, maybe even the universe, will never be the same."

 

Kara and Mon-El clink their glasses, but sigh heavily as they look at each other over the table, shadows crossing their faces.

 

********

 

"So…I take it the interview didn't go as well as we hoped," Alex muses, leaning back in her plush leather desk chair in her office at the Defense Department. Kara, dressed in her supersuit, glances up at the wall, at the awards and accolades alongside various photos of her sister shaking hands with heads of state and other dignitaries. Her interview, now gracing the pages of the Washington Post, lays sprawled out between them on Alex's shiny cherrywood desk.

 

"Not so much," Kara laments, resting her elbow on the wood surface and leaning her head against her knuckles.

 

"Jesus, she asked you guys a LOT of questions about your sexual habits." Alex scans through the article, one eyebrow raised.

 

"Yes she did." Kara cringes at the thought.

 

"Well, congratulations on turning the paper of record for our nation's capital into a tabloid...oh, good _lord._  Kara, did you guys really cause that landslide up by Mount McClair last year?" The elder Danvers points at a line halfway down the front page and looks accusingly at her younger sibling.

 

Kara bites her lip and shrinks down in her seat. "No one got hurt! There wasn't a living thing around for miles! We checked!"

 

"The debris dammed up the Pell River! There's a new _lake_ up there because of you two!"

 

"Which...is now home to a family of endangered otters! So...everything worked out!"

 

Alex rolls her eyes. "Do I need to sit you two down and have a talk about safe supersex?"

 

"Alex, come on. Big picture, huh?"

 

Alex folds up the newspaper and sets it aside. "Well, I'll be honest, Kara. There's been some discussion here at DoD for...a while now. I've been trying to figure out how to broach it with you."

 

"Discussion? What do you mean?"

 

"Ms. Grant is right. Your family is growing, and there are implications for the whole world to consider."

 

"Implications?" Kara crinkles again, with a vengeance.

 

"Yes, Kara. Like...the human _gene pool._ Look, I have a beautiful, wonderful son who has both alien and human DNA. But he's struggled his whole life with his powers. We've both struggled. With school, with extracurriculars, with just...being in the world. And it was really challenging for me as a single mom, even with all the family support we have. And even, or…scratch that, _especially_ after I married Julianne and brought a human mom and step brother into his life. And now...now _he's_ getting married. To a human. And probably in a few years he'll be having kids, and those kids may have some or all of the same problems _he_ did. And when _they_ grow up and have kids...we just don't know what the long-term impacts of all this are going to be."

 

"Wow. You've...really thought about this."

 

"I'm a scientist, Kara. And a public servant. I tend to do that."

 

Kara sits back in her chair and sighs. "I just…feel strange thinking of my family as…"

 

"...A new species?"

 

Kara shrugs. "If that's what you want to call it."

 

"Well, it's not... _precisely_ accurate. Since everyone but you, Mon-El and Clark are hybrids. And everyone that's part human has had their genetic code tinkered with."

 

"So? Mon-El and I are both products of birthing matrices. Rao knows _what_ kind of science went into making us."

 

"But at least your people had hundreds of years of experience with genetic design. Mom and I have mapped the genomes of every alien member of the family, and we've learned a lot, but I still have no idea what most of your code even does. Mom was able to help make Jonathan by splicing Lois' DNA together with Clark's, but since Clark has a lot more chromosomes, he ends up being something like 38% Lois' child and 62% Clark's. And it's pretty obvious looking at him, he's basically a Superman clone. But...it took a _lot_ of trial and error to make a viable embryo. Same for Allie and A.J.'s kids. And hell, Zora and Madeline had to go to _Argo_ to get help making their boys. Boys! I _still_ can't sort out how that happened. Being that Madeline has no Y chromosome and gender determination for Kryptonians and Daxamites is more...complicated. But your science guild figured it out somehow, and now you have two gorgeous half-human grandsons. Honestly, though, I was pretty relieved that Xander knocked up Sela the old-fashioned way."

 

"Alex…"

 

"Sorry. All I'm saying is…we're in uncharted territory here. And right now we're talking about a manageable number of people. But the reality is your genes will someday be integrated into the larger human gene pool. Having powers will be like...having blue eyes. You know, if those blue eyes could also shoot freaking _fire lasers._ "

 

"Oh come on, you're exaggerating."

 

"I'm not! In fact, it is believed that the mutation that causes blue eyes happened only once, a few thousand years ago. Which means all the millions and millions of individuals with blue eyes are descended from the same person."

 

"So…you're saying this won't be a problem for a few thousand years?" Kara bites her lip in mock-hopefulness.

 

"No, Kara, it's _already_ a problem. You know it is."

 

Kara lets out a heavy sigh, nodding.

 

There's a knock on the door just then, and Alex smiles.

 

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you have a meeting?" Kara asks.

 

"No, _we_ do."

 

"Who's _we_?"

 

"You, me, and a special guest. We have a proposal to make. And we wanted to run it by you first, before we talk to the rest of the family."

 

"Special guest?" Kara wonders. Confused, she uses her x-ray vision to peek through the door.

 

Peeking right back at her and waving, she sees her youngest son.

 

"Hi, Mom!" John says, and opens the door.

 

********

 

"So... you've already had, like, meetings about this?" Mon-El asks his son. The whole family is back in Midvale, relaxing in the living room as empty pizza boxes crowd the recycling bin. Everyone except Alex, who stayed behind in DC to start the ball rolling on their tentative plan.

 

"I have. And not just internally at the Corps. Aunt Alex and I have spoken to the UN Ambassador's office, and she's floated the idea to the White House."

 

"So…what did they say?"

 

"Well, nothing yet, they have to draft memos and issue papers and whatever. But I really think this will get traction. Honestly, our family has been on the radar for a while."

 

"How...how would it work?" Allie asks. "It would be...part of the government?"

 

"Quasi-governmental. Independent authority. And we'll build it from scratch. Start with an advisory council, then set up an office, and begin recruiting members. This can't just be about our family. It would be open to anyone with powers, metas and aliens alike."

 

"And it would...do _what_ exactly?" Zora pipes in.

 

"First of all, help us live publicly. Whenever we're ready. It would kind of be like the witness protection program, but in reverse. And we wouldn't have to unveil ourselves as Danverses. Not for a long time, anyway. But…the idea is to transition the family into public life. We would have established identities as supers, we would be able to get jobs, and bank accounts and whatever, there'd be lawyers, a press secretary, and eventually, they'd help us open a school."

 

"A school? For supers?" Xander raises an eyebrow, glancing at his wife who's still happily scarfing down a slice of pepperoni. Pizza had been introduced on Argo some years back and had become a delicacy, often served at formal events. And his lovely bride was a particular connoisseur, even more so since she started eating for two.

 

"For any kids with powers, who might have special needs that regular schools can't accommodate," John explains. "And there would be more down the line. Frankly, right now the government already has a lot of functions that deal with what we do, that could be folded in here. Like responding to all the property damage. And the ambassador's office has had to clean up a couple of our interventions that basically amounted to international incidents."

 

"Oh, come on, John. I think that's overstating things," Allie grouses.

 

John sighs. "No, Al, it's not. Look, helping save lives during natural disasters is one thing. But there have been times when we've dealt with terrorism, crime, and other violence abroad. THAT is normally under the purview of local leadership. It gets messy really fast. If we work with the UN, we can coordinate with forces on the ground more easily, and we can minimize the risk of escalating conflicts."

 

"Do you really think we can trust an international body to tell us what to do?" His eldest sister balks.

 

"It would be a voluntary partnership, not a legal arrangement. We would have to, for the most part, police ourselves. Within the bounds of existing laws, of course. But...I think this is an opportunity for us. To be a more effective force for good. It'll keep us together and organized, and make the world a lot more comfortable with our presence here."

 

"Mom? What do you think?" Zora turns to Kara.

 

"It's a good start. And it'll give us a foundation to build on for the future. Accountability, resources, and I hate to say it but…public relations. There have been more than a few times one or more of us has been on the bad side of the press and public opinion. And that's only going to grow as our family does."

 

"It's a plan, at any rate," Mon-El muses, smiling at his son. "And you've put a lot of thought into this. I'm proud of you, John."

 

"Thanks, Dad," the son beams at his father. "I am sort of assuming you and Mom will serve as Directors of...whatever this is."

 

"Yeah, I guess we need a name for it, don't we?" Kara wonders aloud.

 

"Council of Augmented Persons?" John replies. "Just off the top of my head. We could call it _CAPE_ for short."

 

"That would just be _CAP_ , dude," his older brother corrects.

 

"I'm taking a liberty here. _CAPE_ sounds a bit more appropriate, don't you think?" John retorts.

 

"I guess," Xander shrugs.

 

"It's perfect," Kara smiles, and leans across the couch to give her youngest child, her baby, a hug and kiss on the temple. "You've always been wise beyond your years, you know that?"

 

Taller now than his mother, he plants a kiss on the top of her head.

 

"There's one more thing I'd like to add to this," Zora says. "The DEO."

 

"What about it?" her father asks.

 

"It needs to go public. If this organization is going to bring Supers out of the shadows, the DEO needs to come out with it. I'll talk to Alex and the President, but...we've been a secret far too long. It's time to change that."

 

Kara looks around the room at her children and husband, nodding along to Zora's words.

 

"I guess we're agreed, then. Tomorrow…will be the start of a new era for us. And you know what? I'm excited."

 

"Well don't you two get _too_ excited. That's how we got in this mess," Xander snarks. "In fact, I want that in our by-laws. Matriarch and patriarch must keep their pants on from here on out." His siblings groan at the insinuation, and roll their eyes.

 

"Okay, if we're making rules, respect for your elders better be number one."

 

"Whatever you say, Madam Director." Xander mock-salutes her, and while she knows it's done in jest, she feels a small swell of satisfaction at the sound of her new title. _This is going to work_ , she thinks. _This is how we move forward_.

 

********

 

"Do you want to do the honors?" she asks her husband, as they stand on Theodore Roosevelt Island, in the middle of the Potomac. The parcel has been generous gifted by the President herself, for the purpose of establishing their new CAPE headquarters.

 

"Nope, this is all you, babe," he answers, handing her the Kryptonian crystal. She looks around, seeing spectators looking on from the river banks, and even from small boats and canoes bobbing up and down in the water. Added to the throng are reporters with cameras, and some helicopters hovering at a safe distance. Clark and Jonathan are there, too, alongside J'onn, and Mon-El's brother Eltro. The supers float into the air, waving at the crowd. When they get high enough, Kara holds the crystal out in front of her and takes a deep breath.

 

"Here goes nothing," she chuckles, and drops the clear cylindrical splinter toward the X marked on the ground. It impacts with a small puff of dirt, and they all float there for a minute, waiting.

 

"Uh, isn't it supposed to…" Xander starts.

 

As if to answer him, the ground begins to rumble violently, and a spikes of rock shoot out from the ground at varying angles. First a few, then dozens, weaving together into a prickly-looking but generally cohesive structure. Like an enormous grayish-brown hedgehog.

 

When the shaking stops, there's a moment's pause, before the audience bursts into applause.

 

"So…anyone have a ribbon and some comically large scissors?" Zora wonders aloud.

 

"Sorry, I'm fresh out. Don't suppose that thing comes pre-equipped with a good Wi-Fi connection, huh?" Allie crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at her parents.

 

Kara rolls her eyes, turns to wave at the onlookers, and takes her husband's hand.

 

"Guess we're open for business!" she smiles, with a profound sense of satisfaction. "Everyone ready?"

 

"I think so," John says. "Let's get to work."

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So I know there's a lot of kinda public-policy talk in here, hope that part wasn't too boring. 
> 
> But I feel like there's so much they never get into on the show that would be relevant, like Kara occasionally violating national sovereignty.


End file.
